Chaos (formerly known as Chaos Group) last week introduced V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max users in the new Update 1 release. The update brings added support for masks, new Progressive Caustics, better translucent materials, and much more. Artists can now do more with a single render, extending what Chaos calls “the most comprehensive visualization toolset on the market.”
What’s New
The V-Ray Frame Buffer adds support for masks. Users can now fine-tune their rendered with pixel-perfect selections via mask editing. The full complement of V-Ray’s masking render elements are included: Cryptomatte, MultiMatte, Wirecolor, and Object/Material/Render IDs are supported
Additive dome lights can now be rendered at the same time to simulate multiple lighting scenarios. And there is direct support for Chaos’ Light Mix technology, which makes fine-tuning results quite easy.
This image shows the new Progressive Caustics capabilities in V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max, Update 1.
Other Key Features include:
- Progressive Caustics – Render reflected lighting from surfaces like glass and water are now far easier to achieve.
- Faster Global Illumination on V-Ray GPU – The V-Ray Light Cache now processes on the GPU, making it much faster to get to the first pixel.
- V-Ray Camera Lister – Easily edit all of the cameras in the scene from one interface.
- Batch Camera Rendering – Users can now export all of the cameras in their scene, making it easier for Chaos Cloud users to render any camera angle they need from a single export.
- Enhanced tyFlow Rendering – tyFlow simulations can now be rendered with V-Ray GPU and Chaos Cloud.
- Intel Open Image Denoising – Excellent for interactive rendering, Intel Open Image Denoise cleans up noise fast, on any machine.
- Viewport Upgrades – V-Ray Materials will now appear even more realistic in the 3ds Max viewport, giving important context to artists as they edit their scenes.
Chaos Cosmos—a new render-ready 3D content collection, is now included within V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max. Perfect for interior and exterior architectural visualizations, the library includes hundreds of free high-quality 3D models and HDRI skies that can be easily inserted into any scene using V-Ray or cosmos.chaos.com.
Masking in V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max, Update 1, now supported.
A full feature tour is available here.
Pricing and Availability
V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max, Update 1 is free and available now for anyone with a current (v5) license. Perpetual licenses are priced at $1,180 with upgrades available for $590. Term licensing is available at $470 (annually) and $80 (monthly). V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max is also included in V-Ray Collection, an annual plan that gives users full access to 15 Chaos products and services for $699/year.